What Is This?

This is a story about life and how life can be stunning and amazing just by living it. Em²a Cartoon is the personification of my (Emma Lysyk's) inner self and how we would or do react to the world around us.

Dirty Soy Chai

Combine Toddy and Maya chai concentrate in 20 oz. cup. Set aside. Steam soy milk to 170 – 180* degrees. Combine soy into cup and stir. Garnish with whipped cream and nutmeg.*Room temperature chai and cold toddy will bring the temperature down to 160, so steam only to 170 if using hot espresso.

Bring the water to a boil. Add the spices and tea, remove from heat and let steep 15-20 minutes, depending on how strong you want it. Strain and add the brown sugar, honey, and vanilla. Stir to combine.

Mix 1 part concentrate with 1 part milk, heat and enjoy or pour over ice.

For a stronger flavor, mix 2 parts concentrate with 1 part milk or half-and-half.

Barista Rosa’s Chocolate Chai

(Starbucks size Grande – 16oz)

4 pumps chai

1/2 pump mocha

1 pump vanilla

1/4 pump hazelnut

Add milk of choice, ice, stir, and enjoy! Tastes like Ferrero Rocher candies. Also good with whip cream.

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Pumpkin Spice Latte

(Pumpkin chai. Yeah.. That’s it..) Submitted by L

2 cups milk of choice

2 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree

1-3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice mix

1/2 cup strong coffee

Whipped cream

Add milk, pumpkin and sugar to a sauce pan and cook over medium heat, stirring until hot and sugar is dissolved. Do not boil.

Remove from heat. Add vanilla, pumpkin pie spice mix and coffee.

Pour into 2 mugs (or 1 very large one) and garnish with whipped cream and more pumpkin pie spice.

Directions

For the chai:

Pour all ingredients into a (preferably spouted) saucepan. Place over medium heat. Allow to heat until small bubbles appear around the perimeter of the milk. Stir the chai, scraping the bottom to avoid scalding the milk. When the milk comes to a boil, turn off the heat and stir well. Bring to a boil once again, turn off the heat and stir well. Allow to steep for a few minutes. Strain carefully into a cup, and serve.

For the chai masala:

If you are using whole spices, weigh out the appropriate amount, place in spice grinder and grind into a fine powder. Mix all the spices together, store in an airtight jar in a cool, dry part of your kitchen. Do not expose to too much sunlight.

Additional Notes

The recipe was passed down in grams, I’ve tried to convert it into conventional measurements, but please be aware that the conventional measurements are of the finely ground not the whole spices. Please note, you will get best results if you weigh the spices, it’s most accurate.

The masala recipe makes a LOT of masala. Feel free to make 1/5 of the recipe, that’s the easiest number to divide if you have an accurate scale.

Some have said that the recipe is a bit spicy for them. For those of you who are finding the recipe a bit too spicy, feel free to decrease the black pepper. Perhaps start by cutting the amount in half (80g) and then making a cup, if you can think you can tolerate more black pepper start adding in 10 additional grams of black pepper until you get to your perfect spice level!

[Her] favorite chai is from Big Heart Tea Co. In lieu of 4 tea bags and 1 cup of water, [she] steeps 5 grams in 10 ounces of water. Vodka works well because it allows the spices of the chai to shine. Bourbon would also be a good pick if you wanted to change it up a little bit. [She] used Silk’s organic unsweetened soy milk, but any unsweetened plant-based milk will do {almond, coconut, hemp, etc.}.

Makes: 4 cocktails
Ingredients

4 chai tea bags {see notes}

1 cup filtered water

1 tablespoon maple syrup

2 ounces espresso

1 cup plant-based milk

4 ounces vodka

handful ice

star anise, garnish

Instructions

Heat the water to almost boiling and steep the tea for 4 minutes. Discard the tea bags {or loose tea} and add in the maple syrup. Stir to combine, and set to the side to cool.

Meanwhile make 2 ounces of espresso. Set that aside to cool.

Combine in a shaker the cooled chai and espresso, milk, vodka and ice.